Illusion apparatus



May 10, 1960 BATHKE ILLUSION APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 8,1959 FIG. 2.

INVENTOR. 54 774/165,

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GOEDON May 10, 1960 BATHKE 2,936,174

ILLUSION APPARATUS Filed May 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 FIG. 6. 0 Q

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ILLUSION APPARATUS Gordon Bathke, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application May 8, 1959, Serial No. 812,056

7 Claims. (Cl. 2728) This invention appertains to improvements inillusion devices and, more particularly, relates to a novel and improvedillusion apparatus for use with a concertina or similar musicalinstrument which is constructed and operated on an accordion principle.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanicalsupporting and operating means for a concertina or similar musicalinstrument, such means being adapted to operatively support theinstrument in a concealed manner so that a viewer is unable to perceiveand understand how the instrument is supported and operated.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide avertical support to which a concertina or similar instrument can bequickly and easily attached in a way so that it appears that theinstrument is unsupported and is floating in the air.

A further important object of the present invention is to provide meansin association with such vertical support for moving the concertina orother accordion-type musical instrument inwardly and outwardly,simulative of the playing movements of the instrument, the movementsbeing in a controlled fashion so that each inward movement of theinstrument is followed or preceded by an outward movement of equalextent.

A specific form of the present invention resides in the construction ofa chair so that the back of the chair serves as the vertical support andthe bottom of the chair functions as a housing for the operatingmechanism. In such form, the back of the chair houses a rotatable screwmeans which is driven by a drive transmission means extending from theoperating mechanism and mounted in a concealed manner in the chair back.The screw means supports a pair of cooperating and relatively movablemembers to which the instrument is attached in a way so that theinstrument conceals the members. Such attachment of the instrument canbe quickly and easily effected, adding to the resultant illusion effect.A pair of arms are carried by the instrument for attachment to themembers, the arms being formed in a way so that in one playing positionof the instrument, a hoop can be passed over the instrument to give theillusion that it is unsupported.

A reversible electric motor is mounted in the chair bottom and serves asthe prime mover for the operating mechanism. The motor is controlled bya switch means which causes it to reverse and the switch means isactuated by'a cam means that is formed and operated in such a way as tocause the motor to produce a movement of the operating mechanism wherebythe instrument is moved inwardly and outwardly in a fashion simulativeof the actual playing movements of the instrument.

The foregoing and ancillary objects, including the provision of asturdy, compact and inexpensive illusion device of the type described,are attained by this invention, the preferred embodiment of which is setforth in v United States Patent lice the following description andillustrated in the accompany drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the chair form of illusion device, inaccordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1and showing the concertina in top lana k 2 Figure 3 is a horizontalsectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1 and showing the motor andcontrol means in top plan;

Figure 4 is a detailed vertical sectional view showing in elevation thedrive transmitting means between the motor and the concertina supportingarms;

Figure 5 is a detailed front elevational view of the screw means and istaken on line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure5;

Figure is a detailed side elevational view of the cam and switch meansand is taken on line 7-7 of Figure 3; and,

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the drive connectionbetween the motor shaft and the cam shaft.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, thenumeral 12 generally designates a con certina which is known per se. Theconcertina 12 or similar accordion-type musical instrument constitutesthe important prop for the illusion device and is conventional in allrespects except that a hole is formed through the rear wall of one ofthe end housings. The hole permits the escape of air when the instrumentis being automatically moved in and out; the valves not beingmanipulated by the fingers at such time. When the instrument is beingplayed in the ordinary way, a plug 14 is provided to close the hole, theplug being carried by a flexible connector 16 that is attached to theend housing.

The illusion effect of the present invention can be carried out with anytype of supporting structure. A preferred form of supporting structureis the chair 18 which has a bottom 20 and a back rest 22. The bottom 20is in the nature of a housing and is provided with a removable seatcover 24. i

The chair 18 is preferred since it adds to the illusion effect becausethe performer first sits in the chair and plays the instrument in theordinary way. Then, the performer rises from the chair and fixes theconcertina to the chair back, as will be described. The actions of theperformer are carried out in such a deceptive and entertaining way thatthe audience is not aware that the instrument is being attached to thechair back. The operating mechanism is actuated so that the instrumentthen is moved in and out automatically. The audience perceives afloating of the concertina in mid-air and is not aware of the fact thatthe instrument is actually supported by the chair back 22.

The chair back 22 includes a transverse housing 26 which is made up offront and back walls 28 and 30 and top and bottom walls 32 and 34. Thefront wall 28 is spaced outwardly and downwardly from the front edge ofthe top wall 32 to define a slot 36. Arms 38 and 40 are carried by therear walls of the end housings 42 and 44- of the concertina 12, the armsbeing shaped in a particular way for a special illusion purpose, as willbe described. The arms terminate in outer, downturned ends or hooks 46which are fitted in carriers or traveling holders 48, as will bedescribed.

A screw shaft 50 is rotatably journalled in the housing 26 between theends thereof and has right and left threaded end portions 52 and 54. Acarrier 48 is mounted on each threaded portion so that the shaft,rotating in the same direction, causes the carriers to move inwardly andoutwardly relative to each other.

Each carrier includes a channel member 56 which has its legs 58 and 66disposed above and below a block 62 which serves as a rail or guidesupport. The block has a dove-tail groove 64 within which a guide 66carried by the web of each channel member 56 slides, the guide having acenter portion 57 which is provided with a threaded bore receiving theportion of the screw shaft. A pin 68 is mounted transversely between theouter extending ends of the legs 58 and 6t and has rollers 7i and 72rotatably circumposed thereon, the rollers riding on the backside of theblock and being retained in spaced relation by a sleeve 74.

Each carrier has a socket 76 provided on the outer face of the web ofthe channel member 56, the socket being vertically disposed and havingan open end disposed at the slot 36 to receive the end 46 of one of thearms 38, 4d.

The arms 38 and 40 comprise U-shaped major or body portions 78 whichhave oppositely extending, laterally ofiset end portions 81 82. The endportions 80 carry plates 34- which mount the arms to the end housings ofthe instruments while the end portions 82 carry the downturned ends orhooks 46. The arms lie in parallel horizontal planes so that oneoverlies the other.

The arms are formed in such fashion so that, considering Figure 2, ahoop 86, as shown in Figure 1, can be passed over the instrument fromone end past the center of the instrument and then turned and moved overthe other end back to a position beyond the center. Such passage of thehoop over the ends of an instrument heightens the illusion that there isno supporting means for the instrument.

The screw shaft 50 is provided at one end with a pulley 87 which ishoused within a hollow vertical side 88 of the chair back and which isconnected by a belt 90 or similar drive transmitting element to a drivepulley 92.

The drive pulley 92 is fixedly circumposed on the shaft 9 3 of a gearreduction unit 96 which is housed in the chair bottom 26 and is a partof the operating mechanism. A reversible electric motor 98 is drivinglyconnected to the gear reduction unit and, through such unit, drives theshaft 94 in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The motor ismounted on the bottom of the housing by bolts and the mountingarrangement is provided with vibration damping springs.

The reversing of the motor is controlled by a doublethrow, double-polemicro-switch unit 100 which is connected by suitable wiring 102 to themotor. The microswitch unit 150 includes a switch housing 1%, that ismounted between plates 106, and a spring urged switch arm 108 that ispivoted between the plates for engagement with the switch button 116.The arm 108 has a free end provided with a cam roller 112 which rides ona earn 114.

The cam H4 is fixed on a shaft 116 which extends laterally from ahousing 118, a shaft 120 extending laterally in the opposite directionfrom the housing and being driven by the motor. I

Within the housing 118 a means 122 which is known per se, is operativelymounted for ensuring that the shaft 116 rotates in the same directionresponsive to rotation of the shaft 129 in either direction of rotation,responsive to the forward and reverse operation of the motor. Suchmeans, which is shown in Figure 8 for exemplary purposes only, mayinclude cams 124 on the shaft 120 which act on levers 126 that operatean overriding clutch means 128 on the shaft M6, the levers 126 beingadjustable to control their stroke and the speed of rotation of theclutch means. Such adjustment may include moving the fulcrum 34 for thelevers which can be effected externally of the housing 118.

Suitable condensers and capacitors are also in electrical connectionwith the motor and are provided since loud speakers 132 are mounted inthe bottom housing and are connected to a phonograph. The phonograph isturned on to supply sound to the speakers so that when the instrument ismoved by the operating mechanism, a record supplies concertina oraccordion music through the speakers, thereby heightening the illusoryeffect. Such sound producing structure forms no part of the presentinvention and the related parts, as are found in the bottom housing, areonly shown for incidental exemplary purposes.

The cam 114 is formed on its periphery with a plurality of identicalpairs of cam high and low lobes so as to produce forward and reverseoperation of the motor in equal time. Then, for example, the lobe 134finds its counterpart in the adjoining lobe 134a while the lobe 136 alsohas its adjoining counterpart 136a. When the roller is in contact withthe high lobe 134, the arm 108 is raised and the switch causes the motorto move, for the duration of the contact roller H2 with the lobe 134, inone direction. When the roller moves from the lobe 134 onto the lowportion 134a, the arm is urged by the spring downwardly and reverses themotor and causes the motor to operate for the same period of time, aswhen the roller was in contact with the lobe 134, but in the oppositedirection. When the roller moves up and travels on the lobe 136, themotor is again reversed.

While the preferred form of the present invention has been illustratedand described herein, it is to be understood that such is merely by wayof example since various structural changes and different environmentalstructures may be employed or other instruments or devices may be used,as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a chair having a back and a bottom, an illusiondevice for use with a concertina or similar accordion type musicalinstrument having normally manually held end portions, said devicecomprising a pair of relatively movable members arranged on the back ofthe chair, means for attaching the end portions of the instrument to themembers, means for moving the members toward and away from each other toproduce inward and outward movement of the concertina, an operatingmeans mounted in the bottom of the chair, means connecting the operatingmeans to said means for moving the members and means in the chair bottomcontrolling the operating means to produce the relative movement of themembers.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moving means includes ascrew shaft having right and left threaded portions and said membersinclude follower blocks threaded on said threaded portions.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said attaching means includesarms connected to the end portions and having free book ends and socketson the follower blocks receiving the hook ends.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said operating means includesa reversible motor.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said control means includes amicro-switch connected to the motor and a switch arm.

6. A device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said control means includes amicro-switch connected to the motor and a switch arm, and a cam meansdriven by the motor and operating the switch arm.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said chair bottom is in theform of a housing having a removable top that serves as the chair seat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

